Family - Fabaceae
Synonym - Acacia ferruginea, Mimosa ferruginea
Vernacular names - Arimedam, Baabolamaram, Gonthumaram, Karivelam, Parama, Pouvelam, Vanni
Habit - Tree
Habitat - Dry deciduous forests
Distribution - Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Flowering and Fruiting - February-March
Key Identifucation Features - These trees can reach up to 20m in height. Their bark is dark brown, rough, and deeply fissured. The leaves are bipinnate and alternate, with a slender, glabrous rachis that has a gland at its base on the upper side. Between the terminal two pinnae pairs on the upper side, there’s a gland. The leaflets are opposite, sessile, linear-oblong and glabrous. Stipular spines appear in pairs. The flowers are pale yellow arranged in loose panicles. Both the bracts and bracteoles are caducous. The calyx is with five lobes and a puberulous surface. The corolla lobes are oblong and glabrous. Numerous stamens are basally connate. The pod is strap-shaped, dark brown and either round and apiculate or shortly attenuate at the apex.
Uses - Its bark has medicinal properties, including antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic effects. The wood is valuable for construction, and the tree produces a good-quality gum.
No comments:
Post a Comment